Rage Music composers - Mike

We have the pleasure of working with some of the most creative, exciting, fun and passionate people who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all things music and sound.

Mike MacLennan Facebook

We couldn’t do what we do without our composers, so let’s take a minute to tell you how awesome they are.

First up, our orchestral London boy – Mike.

After living in the capital for years (having graduated from the prestigious Trinity College Music School), Mike has recently successfully done what all Londoners seem to aspire to - move to the countryside! Mike composes in a picturesque rural English village, fuelled mainly by sugar, courtesy of his fiancé (who runs her own bakehouse - you can understand why we love it when they visit).

As part of the team at Rage, Mike has composed cinematic soundtracks for productions including the BBC series The Quest For Bannockburn - an investigation into the 700-year-old battle site - and the Leith led campaign, Dobbies: The Tenth Reindeer - a stunning, magical, animated Christmas commercial.

Mike draws inspiration from a number of composers and artists; Thomas Newman’ssoundtrack for Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E is a personal favourite.

"I think Thomas Newman is a genius - I’m generally a huge fan of simplicity when it comes to writing music, and I think in film music he does that better than anybody."

Ennio Morricone’s The Good The Bad And The Ugly soundtrack is also up there as one of his favourite scores of all time.

Mike’s love for modal-simplicity is echoed by the bands and solo artists he loves too; he considers Ben Folds Five’s 2012 record The Sound of the Life of the Mind to be a classic. As a big fan of James Blakehe was happy to have seen him perform live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2013, which to him still stands out as an amazing gig.

Alongside his work as a composer, Mike also works as an arranger and conductor. In these roles he has worked with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (most famous for their work on Doctor Who), the BBC Big Band and also the BBC Concert Orchestra who recorded the fantastic soundtrack for Planet Earth.

Speaking with Mike, he said his favourite Rage project to date has been composing the soundtrack for the BAFTA-Scotland nominated series for BBC Planet Oil.

"This was a chance to get stuck in to a longer score, with real scope to establish and develop themes throughout."

Mike enjoys travelling (New York and LA are among his favourite destinations) and is planning a honeymoon Road Trip along the Californian coastline, most likely with pit stops to indulge his passion for craft beers and pancakes along the way.

Mike MacLennan Facebook

Most recently for Rage, Mike has completed the accompanying soundtrack for the new Command Of The Oceans installation at Chatham Historic Dockyard which features film narrated by Fiona Bruce and an immersive 3D soundscape.